Don't Look Behind You
by s2LaDolceVita
Summary: A series of scary short stories involving our favorite Hey Arnold characters just in time for Halloween! RATED T FOR A REASON so read at your own risk.


**A/N: So in the spirit of Halloween, I decided to write some scary stories for you guys! These stories are adaptations of tales my parents used to tell me or terrifying true events that actually happened to either me or people I know. Each chapter will be a new short story surrounding our favorite Hey Arnold characters. I do warn you that this series is rated T for a reason so consider yourself warned! Now sit back and enjoy :) **

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**The Elevator**

It was a dark October night in Hillwood. The last bus running for the evening came to a stop on 23rd street where Phoebe Heyerdahl got off. She watched the orbs of the buses backlights blink at her like two eyes in the distance as it drove off around the corner. The bus would be the last automobile to drive along these streets until morning.

Phoebe wrapped her jacket tighter to her small frame, trying to protect herself from the cold gusts of wind that blew down the street. The only sound she could hear was the rustle of the leaves on the pavement as it scattered down the empty streets of Hillwood. At 1 AM, it wasn't surprising that the streets were completely barren. Aside from the scarce orange glow the lonely street lamps cast, there was not a single light to be seen on the block. All the windows of the apartment complexes that stood on the road were darkened as all the towns people were safely asleep in their own rooms. All that is, except for Phoebe.

Phoebe wrapped her arms around herself and she wondered whether it was really from the cold, or from fear. She hated being on the streets at this time of night but she never had a choice. At twenty-three years old, Phoebe now worked as a medical resident at Hillwood General Hospital and the work was not only demanding, it also made her toil well into the night. It became almost a routine occurrence for her to get off at extremely late hours. Despite this, she never could get used to the long walk home in the dark. She began to walk briskly, eager to get home to the warm inviting safety of her apartment

Though slightly on edge, Phoebe reminded herself that she was just being silly. Her apartment wasn't too far from here, she had nothing to worry about. After all, this wasn't the first time she had done this late-night walk to her apartment and besides this was the same friendly neighborhood it was during the day, it shouldn't be so different at night right? Right. Yet, her fingers felt the plastic surface of her cell phone as she turned it around and around in the pocket of her jacket, ready to dial 911 at a moment's notice. Phoebe tried to distract herself with thoughts of the hospital. She ran medical diagnoses through her head and names of the patients she had met during rounds that day. She thought of anything she possibly could to distract her from her current surroundings. As far Phoebe was concerned, the more she lost herself in her daydreams, the faster she would arrive at her doorstep.

A few minutes had passed by and Phoebe figured that by now, she was more than halfway there. It would take maybe five more minutes of walking and then she could be safely in between the covers of her bed. She felt herself ease up a little at the thought and let out a deep sigh to release the pent up anxiety. As soon as she had done so however, Phoebe heard the loud echoing crunch of someone else's foot stepping on a leaf behind her.

Phoebe felt her entire body freeze up almost instantaneously. Suddenly all of her instincts felt heightened. She was aware of every single sound and movement of both her own body and her surroundings. Her own footsteps, while barely noticable before, now sounded overly loud in her own ears as she quickened her pace. She could feel her pulse throbbing at the side of her neck and her eyes darted around nervously, looking for anybody else on the street to call for help if the situation arose. A part of her wanted to look back at whoever was behind her, but her neck felt stiff and imovable, gripped with terror.

At first Phoebe had thought she had imagined it, but there it came again: footsteps coming from behind her. It was unmistakable. Someone was following her and they were getting closer. Phoebe speeded up until she was practically half-jogging, yet the footsteps behind her never faded away. It was almost as if, whoever was following her was mimicking her varying speeds. Phoebe felt her heart rate elevating and she could hear the blood pounding her ears. When she slowed down, the footsteps slowed too. If she speeded up, the footsteps were right behind her. Sheer terror overtook her every sense as she realized what was happening. Her hands were hot and sweaty as she realized the footsteps were drawing closer and closer. Phoebe couldn't think straight. Her mind was frozen in fear.

She broke out into a sprint and felt her feet hit heavily on the cement ground with each step she took. It was a blind, panicked kind of running like a prey being hunted. Her bones and muscles were clenching together, her chest felt tight and constrictive. Her throat was raw and parched and her lungs felt like they were on fire, yet she could not stop. Her eyes were wild, pupils dilated and adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Up ahead she could see her apartment. She was so close now. Nothing else ran through her mind except for the thought that the sake of her life rested on getting to that door. She pounded up the steps to the door and fumbled madly at her purse for the keys. Her hands were shaking violently and her breath was caught in her throat as she dug around in her purse. When she finally felt her fingers close around the metallic edge of the keys she tried to jam them into the keyhole but they wouldn't fit. Her hands were shaking too much to fit steadily. Tears of panic ran down her cheeks as she swore under her breath. It was like the seconds were counting down to the end of her life as she stood there jiggling in the keys.

The click of the lock pierced through the air as the door opened. Phoebe gave a cry of relief as she stumbled into the brightly lit lobby. Her entire body was trembling and she gripped herself tightly as if to hold herself together. She repeatedly pushed the button to the elevator over and over as if that would make the process any faster. Despite being inside the building now, Phoebe still found it hard to shake the feeling of complete dread. All she wanted to do was get inside of her room and hide under the covers and pretend this night never happened. Normally, being the health conscious person she was, she would've taken the stairs but she lived on the fourteenth floor and there was no way that she could handle that at the rate her body was in.

The ding of the elevator as it arrived made Phoebe jump out of her skin. She let out a shaky breath as she tried to remind herself that she was safe now. Whoever,_ whatever_ had been chasing her couldn't get in now. She was home. She stepped into the dimly lit elevator and slumped against the cold steel walls. The light above her was broken and flickering but she barely noticed. She pressed the button for the fourteenth floor and let the fear slowly shed itself from her body. The elevator doors began to close and Phoebe shut her eyes in relief. Suddenly, a hand slid in between the cracks of the elevator door and Phoebe's eyes shot open as someone pushed their way into the elevator. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound would come out.

"Are you alright miss? You look like you've seen a ghost"

Phoebe looked up at the man who entered the elevator. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties and handsome. He had blonde hair hidden under the wide brim of his beige hat and wore a long black coat covering his tall frame. He smiled at her in a friendly way, exposing a perfect set of gleaming white teeth and pushed the button for the thirteenth floor, one floor below hers. Phoebe visibly relaxed when she saw this, this man wasn't going to stalk her to her room. He was getting off before her.

"I saw you walking ahead of me. You seemed really scared of something. Are you okay?", he asked again.

Phoebe let out a small giggle as she realized just how paranoid she had been. This man had probably just been a neighbor of hers. No one had been following or chasing her it seemed. It had all been in her mind.

"I'm fine now, thank you for asking. I'm just a little jumpy", she chirped.

The elevator came to a stop on the thirteenth floor.

"That's understandable", The man nodded as he stepped out of the elevator, "You _should_ be scared"

For a split second Phoebe had thought she heard wrong but there he was standing outside of the elevator staring at her. His mouth started to twist into a maniacal smile. The man's once friendly eyes were now dark and deranged. Time seemed to go in slow motion as Phoebe watched the man reach into his coat pocket and pull out a long knife. The blade glinted in the dim light.

"See you on the next floor", he smiled.

The color drained out of Phoebe's face as she saw him run towards the stairs as the elevator doors closed. Then it all clicked to her. He was going to run up the stairs to her floor. Tears started running down Phoebe's cheeks as she looked for an emergency stop button. But she had already known there wouldn't be one. Her fingers pushed every button of every floor in blind panic but there was no use. Screams ripped through her throat as she clawed at the walls, her nails scratching against the smooth steel. There was no way out and she knew it. 

The elevator whirred as it began to go up. 

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><p><strong>AN: This particular story was told to me by one of my friends and according to her is actually based on a real-life serial killer who came to be known as the Elevator Killer. Pretty chilling huh? **


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